Hurricane Lane: 3rd Wettest US Tropical Cyclone on Record

Hurricane Lane brought gusty winds and prolific rainfall this past week and weekend to most of Hawaii. Lane qualified as one of the rainiest US tropical cyclones on record. Over 50 inches was recorded in one location, while over 40 inches occurred in 4 different locations.

51.53 inches of rain was measured in Mountain View located on the Big Island. This makes Lane the third wettest tropical cyclone to affect the US in recorded history. It stands just behind Hurricane Hiki (1950) with 52 inches recorded, and Hurricane Harvey (2017) where 60.58 inches were recorded near Houston.

Hilo, the largest city on the Big Island, picked up 36.76 inches of rainfall in a 4-day period (Wednesday through Saturday). That made it the wettest 4-day period ever for the location. More impressive was the 15 inches that fell on Friday, which ranked as the fifth-wettest calendar day in history.

As to no surprise, this heavy rain brought serious issues to parts of the Hawaiian islands. Numerous landslides and mudslides were recorded, most of which were in Hawai’i County. The saturated ground paired with the gusty, tropical winds made for a perfect combination to down trees and knock out power as well.

Jackson is Head of Content at WeatherOptics and produces several forecasts and manages all social media platforms. Previously, Jackson forecasted local weather for southwestern Connecticut, founding his website, Jackson's Weather, in the March of 2015. He is currently studying Meteorology and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Miami.